Hazardous manual tasks: managing the most common injury in Australia

It isn't falls or machinery that drive the most serious workers' compensation claims in Australia — it's body-stressing from hazardous manual tasks. The WHS Regulations single these out and require the risk to be managed, yet they're often the most overlooked hazard on site and in the workplace.

What counts as a hazardous manual task

A manual task becomes hazardous where it involves repetitive or sustained force, high or sudden force, awkward or sustained postures, or exposure to vibration. Think repeated lifting, prolonged bending, working overhead, or operating vibrating tools — not just one-off heavy lifts.

Controlling the risk

The most effective controls change the task, not the worker: redesign the job to remove the manual handling, provide mechanical aids, reduce loads and reach distances, and rotate tasks to limit exposure. Training in technique matters, but it sits below elimination and engineering controls in the hierarchy.

Assess and record

A simple, documented risk assessment of the tasks your people actually do — with the controls you've put in place and a review date — is what the regulator expects and what protects your workers from injuries that are often permanent.